Now's the Time Walking Bass Line
Now's the Time is Charlie Parker's riff blues in F, first recorded on November 26, 1945, at the same session as Billie's Bounce, with Curley Russell on bass. The changes are about as simple as a jazz blues gets: a quick change to Bb7, a diminished passing chord in bar 6, a D7 that leads into a ii-V, and a I-VI-ii-V turnaround. With so few chords, your walking line has to carry the motion. Below you'll find the changes bar by bar and a walking line in F.
Turn the bass off and it's your gig: the piano and drums keep going and you walk the line. The band counts you in with one bar of hi-hat.
Recorded upright bass, grand piano and a jazz drum kit play the line. Tab is for 4-string bass in standard tuning.
The changes
The two charts we checked agree on 11 of the 12 bars. Learn Jazz Standards has D7 for all of bar 8, which we use here; Jazzadvice splits it into Am7 D7, a ii-V into Gm7. Jazzadvice also writes bar 11's D7 as D7b9.
How this line works
- The root lands on beat 1 of 9 of the 14 chord changes, so the harmony is clear. The rest start on the 3rd or 5th, which keeps the line from sounding like a list of roots.
- 13 of the 13 chord changes are approached by a half step or a whole step, so every new chord arrives smoothly instead of by a jump.
- Non-chord tones sit on the weak beats: 7 on beat 2 and 5 on beat 4. That's where passing and chromatic notes sound intentional instead of wrong.
- No note repeats back to back. A repeated note is the quickest way to make a walking line sound stiff.
What Now's the Time teaches you
- The basic jazz blues in F: F7 for most of the first four bars, a quick change to Bb7 in bar 2, Bb7 again in bar 5, and back to F7 in bar 7.
- A diminished passing chord: Bdim7 in bar 6 sits a half step above Bb and a half step below C, the 5th of F7, so the bass can climb Bb, B, C into bar 7.
- A secondary dominant: D7 in bar 8 is the V of Gm7, so it pulls the tune into the ii-V (Gm7 to C7) in bars 9 and 10.
- A I-VI-ii-V turnaround: F7 D7 | Gm7 C7 in bars 11 and 12, two beats per chord, sends you back to the top.
- Few chords, so the line carries the motion: bars 3 and 4 are both F7, and bars 9 and 10 give each chord a full bar. Use them to change register instead of circling the root.
How to practice it
- Hear the form first. Turn the bass off and play just the root of each chord along with the band until you never lose your place.
- Read the line slowly. Set the tempo around 80 and play the written line with the drums. Slow is the fast way here.
- Loop the hard spots. Turn on Loop, find the four bars that trip you up, and play them until they feel like the easy ones.
- Make it yours. Keep beat 1 of every bar, but change the approach note on beat 4. A half step above, a half step below, a whole step: each one changes the color of the arrival.
- Play it with the record. Put on one of the versions below and play along. That's where the time feel gets into your hands.
Want to build your own lines on these changes? Try the free Walking Line Builder and practice with the click on 2 and 4.
Recordings to hear
- Charlie Parker, The Charlie Parker Story (1945), with Curley Russell on bass.
- Charlie Parker, Now's the Time (The Quartet of Charlie Parker) (1953), with Percy Heath on bass.
- Sonny Rollins, Now's the Time (1964), with Ron Carter on bass.
Now's the Time: questions
What key is Now's the Time in?
F. It's a 12-bar blues in F, and that's the key on the Learn Jazz Standards and Jazzadvice charts.
What are the chord changes to Now's the Time?
F7 | Bb7 | F7 | F7 | Bb7 | Bdim7 | F7 | D7 | Gm7 | C7 | F7 D7 | Gm7 C7. Some charts split bar 8 into Am7 D7, so check which version the band's using.
What's the connection between Now's the Time and The Hucklebuck?
The melody of Now's the Time was used for The Hucklebuck, a hit for saxophonist Paul Williams four years after Parker's first recording. Parker didn't get the songwriting credit.
Your next step
This page gives you one line to study. These courses teach you to build your own, on the bass you play.
The 7-Day Walking Bass Breakthrough
Cole DavisWalk through any jazz tune with lines that move, swing, and never repeat themselves.
- Walk through any ii-V-I, major or minor.
- Solve the two-bar problem on static modal tunes.
- Never repeat yourself two bars in a row.
Walking Basslines on Upright Bass from the Beginning
Cole DavisFive lessons from “my walking lines don't sound like the records” to professional-grade walking.
- The chord first: the 1-3-5-7, where every great bass line starts.
- The master move: changing the order of the notes, bar by bar, on an F blues.
- The three questions every bass line has to pass, then the whole method on Autumn Leaves.
Not sure which course fits? Answer a few questions and we'll point you to one.